Tuesday, April 10, 2018

So-called Activist Mommy: 'LGBT groups rape kids minds'

So called "Activist Mommy" Elizabeth Johnston obviously is in desperate need of attention. Positive or negative - it doesn't matter as long as it's about her.

“Activist Mommy” Elizabeth Johnston is really an angry mommy, a bigot and a conservative Christian. I am sure that she is quite conversant in scripture. However, beyond those ancient chronicles of dubious provenance, she thrives on attention and ignorance. I give her credit for creating the attention. She is obviously quite adept at doing so. The ignorance, however, is self-inflicted by someone with little intellectual curiosity and handicapped critical thinking.

Before I get into the details there is this basic understanding of Johnston. In spite of a mountain of evidence to the contrary, Johnston is wed to the notion that sexual orientation and gender identity are choices. Moreover, she believes that those choices can be influenced by others. Johnston's intellectual deficit is the result of trying to conform the real world to her book. That is why she is so staggeringly incorrect when it comes to LGBT people.

Furthermore, Johnston's choice of inflammatory language demonstrates poor judgment and a greater need for the attention than for stating anything that is profound or even original. We've seen it all before — and we have prevailed. We will continue to prevail because most people see someone like Johnston as a superstitious fool. It is no accident that Johnston's latest bit of trash talk comes to us via a hate group — American Family Association.

I have made a point of not generally commenting on Johnston because she thrives on attention. People like that get as much pleasure from negative attention as they get from positive attention. I am diverting from custom because Johnston is suggesting what bigots have suggested for decades which is the idea that LGBT people pose a threat to children. It is factually incorrect, inflammatory and reflects not only ignorance but spectacularly poor judgment.

Conservative activist Elizabeth Johnston, more widely known as the “Activist Mommy,” is waging a war against the graphic and comprehensive sex education taught in America’s schools – stressing that LGBT groups are partially responsible for the teaching that is perverting the minds of tens of millions of students.

I do not know if Johnston has any qualifications to weigh in on education but the objectives of age appropriate sex education are generally to reduce unintended pregnancies and the risk of sexually transmitted disease. According to the research, for example, in comparing abstinence-only programs with comprehensive sex education, comprehensive sex education was associated with a 50% lower risk of teen pregnancy. It seems to me that the people who are so obsessed with eliminating abortion would be more supportive.

The homeschool mom of 10 recently spoke with the Washington, D.C.-based Christian nonprofit Family Research Council (FRC), contending that any parents concerned about their children receiving a decent and morally upright education about human reproduction should support her nationwide protest and stop the LGBT community from “sneaking into schools” to teach kids how to have anal sex.

The notion that the LGBT community is somehow sneaking into schools is preposterous. It is anyone's guess where she is getting her information about anal sex. I suppose that kids might be taught not to have anal sex without a condom but that is probably not until they are in their later teens. Johnston does not share where her information is coming from.

With more than half a million Facebook fans, the concerned parent is looking to incite other parents and alarm citizens from coast to coast to join her campaign and help put an end to the over-sexualization of America’s youth.

“Johnston … is so irate over the notion that public schools could begin teaching what she considers reckless sexual behaviors and inclusive gender studies that she’s attempting to launch a nationwide protest – ‘Sex Ed Sit-Out’ – against the program to take place on April 23,” TheBlaze reported. “In a Facebook video that’s received more than 400,000 views, Johnston blasted LGBT groups, which she feels are partially responsible for advancing an anti-family agenda in public schools and corrupting the developing minds of young students.”

People like Johnston need an enemy. In this case it is LGBT people. She loves being irate. This is all about narcissism. Keep in mind that she is more interested in the number of Facebook followers that she has than the quality of the information that she is providing. Conservative Christians who say what other conservative Christians want to hear have a built-in constituency. What they want to hear is that gay and trans people are evil and corrupters of children. It is really no different than perpetuating myths that black people are obsessed with raping white women or that Jews are usurers. We have heard it all before.

The message that these crackpots are really sending is that we are recruiting their children and causing them to become gay or trans. The should be more careful because neither sexual orientation nor gender identity are particularly influenced by the religiosity of one's parents.

Of those half-million Facebook fans it is fair to say that about 25,000 or so are going to have LGBT kids. The real danger here is not LGBT people corrupting their kids but the fact that Johnston is fostering child abuse by reinforcing bigoted notions about LGBT people. As I said, some of her fans have, or will have, LGBT kids and there is nothing that they can do to alter than fact. Furthermore, what effect does Johnston's big ignorant mouth have on gay and trans kids in our public schools?

The bottom line here — and I am repeating myself — is that LGBT people pose no threat to children per se. On the other hand, promoting bigotry and stupidity has considerable potential consequences for children. And not just the queer kids. When children grow up they are going to have gay or trans coworkers, customers and bosses. Arming them with intolerance and keeping them in an artificial bubble only makes them less productive.

Johnston sets the example. There is nothing productive in what she is doing. Thus, history will not be kind to her ilk. Acceptance of same-sex marriage, for example, causes many people now to wonder what all the fuss was about. People realized that they have gay neighbors, friends and associates. Trans people have some catching up to do but they will get there too. A time will come when the overwhelming majority of normal people are more interested in the person than the person's sexuality. It should be irrelevant and will be in spite of imbeciles like Elizabeth Johnston.